Pan de Jamon (Ham Bread)

I know that Christmas is long gone. And so are the Christmas foods. Except that this year due to numerous other stuff,we had to deal around my house, we left a lot of Christmas food making for "after" the holidays.

Case in point: "Pan de Jamon" which basically translates to: Ham Bread.

"Pan de jamon" is a huge, golden, egg-washed bread filled with swirls of ham, olives, bacon, and raisins. This is a traditional staple in Venezuela Holiday cuisine. Most family will not even think of having the holiday go by without this on their table

I have been craving one since December, this past weekend the craving hit a high point and I had to make this one way or another. 

This recipe makes 3 loaves.

Ingredients

For the bread dough:
¾ cup water, about 110-115 degrees
2 ½ teaspoons dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
4 ½ ounces unsalted butter
4 ¼ cups warm milk
2-3 pounds all purpose flour (about 12 cups)
½ teaspoon sea salt

For the filling

1 ½ pounds sliced ham
½ pound smoked bacon cut in cubes (save the bacon fact)
4 ounces olives stuffed with red pepper and roughly chopped
4 ounces raisins (soaked in red wine)
1 egg, beaten lighly to glaze the top

 
To do the dough for the bread, we start with the "starter" in a bowl, mix the warm water and sugar and then add the yeast. Let stand for 15 minutes until it foamy.

Add the butter to the warm milk, the sugar and salt.  In a mixer with a doug hook, start mixing the flour in a low setting and then add the milk mixture to it, and then the yeast "sponge".  Let the mixer mix for about 15 minutes. When cycle is complete, remove dough from machine to a lightly floured surface. Knead in until soft and smooth, using enough flour to make dough easy to handle. Roll it like a ball and place in an oiled bowl and cover with a damp clothes and let rise in warm draft-free place until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

In the meantime, start preparing the filling.

Turn oven to 375 degrees

Place a sauted pan on the stove to medium high heat. Cut your bacon into cubes and place in the hot pan.  Cook the bacon until translusent, (not crispy)... take out and place in a bowl, save the bacon fat.  Set out the raisins and pour some red wine over them and let them soak.  Take the olives and if not chopped, do so, roughly, set in a bowl and put aside. Beat the egg and set aside.

Now back to the bread.

Roll out the dough with a rolling pin, until about square.  Take the bacon grease and with a brush, coat the dough with the bacon fat (try to coat the whole dough).  Arrange the ham, bacon, olives and raisins on top, leaving a small strip bare at the top. Brush the strip with egg and roll up gently.  Roll it up like a swiss roll making sure the seam is under the bread, tuck the sides in as well, and place in a sheet pan that has been coated with non-stick spray or lined with a Silpat mat.  Coat the bread with the egg mixture to seal it. and let stand for about 15 minutes before you place in the oven.

Bake for 45 minutes until golden brown all around.  Take out of oven, move it to a cooling rack until warm, about 15-20 minutes.  Cut and served.

A quick tip: If you are press for time, I have used the Pillsbury pizza dough tube in order to replace the step of making my own bread.  Works like a charm.  Follow the package baking instructions.

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Frescolita Ice Cream (Cola-Ice Cream)

We are going down memory lane today. You have been warned.

I was born and spend my early years growing up in Venezuela. And like most people those food that you eat in your childhood just stay there, in your soul.  Just the smell of them brings me down memory lane.

I lived in a small town (back then) in the most southern part of the country.  We were knows as the last stop before going to the Amazon jungle and experiencing the Salto Angel. In Venezuela (and like most latin countries), neighborhoods have a sense of community. Most people live in a house for years and years, so everyone knows everyone’s business; kids grow up together and play together.  My fondest childhood memory was that of playing outside our house on the street with other kids around the neighborhood. It was as tacky as any movie, where kids were left to run a bit free and pretty much do whatever we could do before being called back into the house by our parents.

Most of the “barrio” (Neighborhoods) have families that sell something to make a bit of extra cash on the side. I remember in my barrio we would have the house that would sell homemade cakes, another one that would have “Pastelitos” and “Empanadas” (pastry filled with all types of filling). And the tequeños (which trust me I will be making some and posting it here) Some when as far as having a “Bodegita” and part of a small business - think of it as a raw version of a “Farm Store”

Many of times I was given money and told to go to the bodega to get something my grandmother needed or forgot to get at the big supermarket. It love doing that because then, I could sneak a “real” (the equivalent of 25 cents) from the change to buy a Toronto, or a Cocosete.

And sometimes I would collect my “reales” and have enough (1 Bolivar = 1 dollar) to go to the green house down the corner and buy a “Helando de Frescolita” (Soda Pop ice cream). They were delicious, and creamy, sweet and ice-cold, a great treat for the hot days.

When I left Venezuela and came to the states, those were the treat that I would miss, those homemade cakes and ice creams, made by the women in the “Barrio”. As I got older and traveled back for vacation, I finally go the guts to ask how to make them and was surprise that all you needed was 2 ingredients.

Frescolita and sweeten condense milk.

Oh yeah, see where this is going?

To deliciousville on the fast train! (because anything with sweeten condense milk is ok with me)

Frescolita is a Venezuelan cola. It is very similar to cream sodas found here in the United States, with a taste similar to bubble gum. It’s yummy and one of my favorite soda drinks.

Most Latin markets sell them, or in some cases a version of the same thing, so it should not be hard to find, you can also buy it here

So let’s get cracking… you will need:

Ingredients 
1 can of Frescolita (or similar cream soda)
1 can of sweeten condense milk (we will use about ½ of the can more or less and some more to coat the inside of our cups)
Equipment:
A blender, some small plastic cups, a container to hold them in the freezer (Tray, cake pan, etc).

We start off by pouring the can of frescolita into the blender, then take the sweeten condense milk and pour some of that yummy liquid into the individual cups, coating the bottom. It should be about 1 tablespoon per cup (you can put more or less, depending on how much you like sweeten condensed milk). then pour about 1/2 of the can of condensed milk into the blender. Hit mix and swirled it up until well mixed, about 2 minutes or so. 

Taste it and if is not sweet enough, pour some more condensed milk and mix again. I personally don't like it too sweet, plus keep in mind that when freezing it, the flavors will intensify.

Pour the mixture into the coated cups about 1/2 way full, place into a tray or pan, cover wtih aluminum foild and into the freezer they go. Freezer for about 24 hours.

When ready, to eat just take out of freezer and spoon it up!

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Quesillo

Ok folks this is so easy, there is no excuse to make one every weekend. It's rich, its creamy and oh, so good.

In Venezuela, as well as most of Latin America, everyone makes Flan and most of you probably have tasted some type of version of this creamy custard dessert. In Venezuela we make our version of Flan and call it: "Quesillo". The ingredients are your basic eggs, milk, vanilla, caramel and sweeten condense milk and a dash of run. It is bake either in a pressure cooker, or in the oven using the bain-marie (also known as a water bath) technique. Or the most original way will be in a cracker/cookie can, which I will talk about later.

The desert gets its name because, "Queso" mean "cheese" in Spanish and when its bake right and un-molded, it comes out looking like a "cheese". And while its super simple to make, oddly enough, most of the Venezuelan makes it only during a special celebration. Every birthday party has a cake and a Quesillo.

The cast of ingredients is composed of eggs, sweeten condense milk, whole milk, vanilla, lime peel and rum. But first we need to make the yummy caramel sauce - all it takes is sugar and a bit of water.

In a heavy sauce pan and mix the sugar and water, over high heat. The sugar will start to boil and then will start to slowly turn colors on you, first into a pale amber, and escalating into a medium, dark color; NOTE: Once you hit the pale stage DON'T WALK AWAY FROM IT, because it will jump into the medium and then dark very, very fast and if there is nothing more horrible, is BURNED sugar! So, make sure you are on top of it at all times. When you see it turn into a dark rich color, remove from heat and pour into the baking dish.

Tilt back and forth to cover the bottom and sides of dish. get it nice and coated. Again, be careful, the caramel at this stage is very hot and may burn you (Badly!). I usually cover my baking dish with a towel while I'm coating it.  Let the caremel in teh pot cool, so put it aside.

Side note: Lets talk about the baking dish for a bit. You can use any you like. But, my grandmother taught me to use a cracker or cookie can as seen below. Don't let the look fool you, this is the best thing to make the Quesillo in.

Yep, you read it right, a can! Which its the perfect baking vessel, it has a lid, which fits nice and tight and its the right height and it may sound totally off the wall, but the can gets cured with past baking and the caramel and custard just taste better. But ,you can use anything you like if you can not find, or feel comfortable using a can.

Back to making the actual quesillo custard.

Turn your oven to 400 Degrees.

The next step are simple enough, in a blender, pour the can of condensed milk - YUM! (lick those finger - go ahead you are allowed, I can wait) Then take the empty can and measure the whole milk and pour into a separate glass container (I use a measuring cup) with the strip of lemon peel and put in the microwave for about 2 minutes to warm up. Back to the blender I go and pour the warm milk, then the vanilla and run (if you are using, which I highly recommend you do) the blender at medium speed for about 1-2 minutes, while you are running the blender, you start adding the eggs one by one until fully incorporated.

Pour the custard mixture into the baking dish that you coated with caramel and place inside a larger pot. I usually like the specs of the lime peel, but if you don't you can strain the custard before it goes into the coated caramel baking dish.

You are ready to bake it! Take your baking dish and cover the top with aluminum foil, nice and tight. Then place into a bigger heavy dish/pan. You are ready for the water bath - Pour in enough hot water into larger pot to reach halfway up the sides of the baking dish. TIP: if you squeeze the previous peeled lime into the water, the pot you are using will not turn black during the baking process.

Slowly place into the middle rack of your hot oven and bake about 55 minutes, covered. Then uncovered and bake another 20 minutes. The custard is ready when you touch it and it feels firm but a bit wiggling in the middle. Take out of the oven - again, be very careful, since the water inside the large pot it's very hot! Set aside to cool off, about 30 minutes or so. Once is cooled, place in the fridge for at least 3-4 hours before serving. I recommen you leave it overnight.

When ready to serve and un-mold, dip the flan in a saucepan of hot water, or in the sink full of hot water from the tap for a few seconds. It should lose up, but sometimes, you need to run a knife around the edge to help it a bit. Invert the quesillo onto a plate with lip in order to save all that yummy caramel!

Served and enjoy the praises

Ingredient

(makes a medium size Quesillo) if you need to make a bigger one, double the ingredients

Caramel Sauce:
6 tablespoons of sugar
2 tablespoons of water

Custard
1 (14-ounce) can of Condensed Milk
1 (14-ounce) can of whole milk (use empty condensed milk can for measure)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 lime peel or 1/4 teaspoon of grated
1 tablespoons of dark rum (could omit if desired, but I highly recommend not do do so)
6 eggs (4 whole eggs, 2 yolks)

Steps: See above

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